The Reformation was one of the most significant transformations in European history. The advent of Protestantism splintered western Christianity in ways that profoundly shaped politics, religion, culture, and society in the 16th century and beyond. This course examines the complex, protracted, and uneven process of Reformation through the lens of events in England, while retaining an interest in developments on the Continent. It will explore how and why the English Reformation was distinctive, but also the debts its leaders owed to key figures in the German and Swiss Reformations, including Martin Luther, Jean Calvin, and Ulrich Zwingli.
The course seeks to underline the human dimensions of the Reformation by focusing both on its architects and opponents, and on the ordinary men and women whose lives it transformed. England’s Tudor kings and queens – Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I, and Elizabeth I – are at the heart of our story, together with other notable agents of religious change, including Henry VIII’s chief minister, Thomas Cromwell, and Elizabeth’s foremost counsellor, William Cecil. The course will cover these figures in chronological order, helping to build up a picture of the convoluted and heavily contested politics of the Reformation. Importantly, other perspectives will be woven into this central narrative to underscore the impact of religious change at different levels of English society and to highlight points of friction between different religious movements. The Reformation is not a story of the inexorable march of progress. It was a conflict in which the battle lines were continuously being redrawn. The final session will explore some of the key legacies of the Reformation in the 17th century and beyond. As we shall see, the triumph of Protestantism was by no means assured at the time of Elizabeth I’s death in 1603.
The course will consist of four lectures, each followed by a short group discussion of key issues or source exercise. The remaining session will take the form of a handling class in Cambridge University Library, in which we will examine a range of 16th-century texts and images from the University’s substantial collection of Reformation-era material.
Learning outcomes
- To gain a greater understanding of the different phases of the English Reformation and its key figures;
- To gain an insight into the debates and controversies that shaped the English Reformation, and to assess the impact these debates have had on modern understandings of this episode;
- To strengthen skills in using a range of primary sources from the 16th and 17th centuries, including both written and visual material.
